UK Consumers Are Unhappy Shoppers at Petrol Stations -- Market Talk

0958 GMT - Prices in the U.K. are growing almost twice as fast as they were just before the turn of the year and although employment figures are encouraging, wage growth has failed to keep up with rising costs, says Nick Dixon, investment director at Aegon. "As a result, consumers are starting to feel the pinch, especially at the petrol pumps where oil price rises and is pushing up inflation," he says. He adds that persistently high inflation poses a threat to pensioners' incomes and puts further pressure on investment returns to outpace rising prices. The August inflation reading came in at 2.9%, above The Wall Street Journal's analyst forecast of 2.8% (emese.bartha@wsj.com; @EmeseBartha)